>>991599
Go stick your face in it.

>>991599
Sure check it out.

Let's take a chabce. Bait like that isn't to be ignoted.

What happened to our MCs gear, btw?

>>991740
>>991641
You tell Syn that, sure you'd might as well check it out. She leads the way to the source of magic, coming upon a clearing. In the center, light shines down and illuminates a small tear in the air itself. Blue energy leaks from the tear, coming out looking like wisps of smoke. You near the tear, readying yourself for anything to happen. The energy begins to move towards you, rather than dissipate into the air.

Everything goes black, and as you feel yourself fall to the ground you hear a concerned shout. "Could this be how it ends?" You wonder to yourself as you float in the void of unconsciousness. "Before I even began, my journey ends."

Light filters into your vision. You awake once more, feeling overwhelmed. Weak. You look around, but only see what seems to be a tent. With a pained groan, you sit up and look over yourself for any damage. All that you notice is that now, a faint blue light pulses in the veins of your right hand, getting weaker up to the elbow, where the light stops. Beside you is the gear you claimed from the Crusaders, which you'd entirely forgotten about. You bring yourself to move for it, sluggish and weak.

You root through the bag, pulling out a hood and a crystal orb that acts as an arcane focus. It seems this was all they had. You use the leather belt on it to strap it to your belt, and then put the hood on. You feel better, your magic seeming stronger, and a weak energy barrier forming around you from the enchantment in the hood.

Gear Bonuses
Crystal Ball; Allows the user to seek out the traces of magical energy without the training usually required. Weaker than the powers of a natural scryer.
Hood of Protection; Forms a weak energy barrier around the user, blocking one attack or spell.

Now feeling much better after putting on your gear, you leave the tent, and your allies greet you happily. Izuka and Kieran simply nod, and Syn berates you slightly for so foolishly approaching the magical source without any protection. "I'm alive, aren't I?" You ask her, then wave off her concerns. "We need to get moving again."

Once again, you're on your way to the college. In the distance, you hear the march of a large force. Are there more crusaders? This group sounds larger than the one you followed on the path. This could be dangerous.

>Follow the sound of the large marching group?
>Keep moving for the college?

>>991854
>Follow the sound of the large marching group?
This is peculiar

>>991854
>Follow the sound of the large marching group?

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>991988
>>991872
Your party follows the sound of the marching, curious about what it could possibly be. As you get nearer, you hear their voices, chanting some sort of song. It's obvious they aren't trying to be discreet. You begin to get nearer, seeing a break in the trees ahead, but before you make it, arrows are fired at your feet, forcing you to stop lest you get shot.

Someone jumps down, staring you down with a curved blade in his hands. His ears are pointed, and his features younger than they should be. This is an elf. You are in slight wonder, as not many have seen the elves. That, or not many have lived to tell the tale. He demands, "Who are you and what business do you have in our forest?" Your hands stay raised by your head, and you explain that you simply were passing through to get to the mages' college on the other side. "And why couldn't you stay on your path, human? We inhabit the forest, and you are not welcome so far in."

>What do you say?

>>992031
>"Because an army is on the path and we're trying to avoid them."
Do they know about the whole Inquisition thing?
We should ask.

File: Nissa.jpg (287 KB, 774x1032)

287 KB JPG

Might as well just move this forward;

>>992040
The elf narrows his eyes in suspicion, motioning towards another nearby tree. Another elf drops down, this time a female. She walks over and the male explains, "I need you to call for an eastern scout. I'm told by this human that there is an army marching." She simply nods and readies an arrow, firing it up into the air. After a few seconds, a shrill sound rings out from the arrow, then it falls back to the ground harmlessly. You wait for some time, before an elven scout emerges literally from a tree. "Report," the male commands, and the scout explains the crusader army and what they've been doing.

The scout is then dismissed, and nods, "Sir!" He places his hand on the tree, glowing green momentarily before disappearing into it. Who you now know as a general of the elves, the male, looks to you and sighs. "I'm not normally one to help humans, but you serve a noble cause. These.. Crusaders will likely come for us as well, so I will grant you permission to go through our forest without trouble from my people." He looks to the female, "Nissa. Escort these mages through the forest." She doesn't object, simply nodding to accept the task.

As you look at her, you only just notice how she is dressed. It's quite distracting to you, and you avert your gaze back to the general. "Thank you, sir, for your help. We need all we can get." You make sure to stay gracious. Don't want to get on the bad side of such a large force.

wew fanservice elf, every fantasy quest needs one :^)

Rolled 31 (1d100)

whoops.

You thank the elf once more, then make your way further to the east. She leads your party, taking you around traps and leading you away from dangerous wildlife.

Because I forgot my roll during the last post, I'll make another post after this one.

File: Tiger.jpg (647 KB, 1024x768)

647 KB JPG

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>992251
Despite Nissa's expertise with the forest and wildlife, there is a superior predator that managed to find you. It seems to be a large feline predator, but you can't pinpoint what kind it is aside from likely related to a tiger. That is largely due to its mutation. You realize that you've been found by a creature effected by the plague that started these crusades.

Your party spreads out, and it growls loudly.

>What do?

>Spell list
Arcane Bolt - Due to your mastery of basic arcane, you can cast this spell without a roll. You may roll, however, to add effects! Be warned, a low enough roll may result in a negative effect!

Barrier - Mastery of basic arcane, read above.

Illusory Clones - Mastery of basic arcane, read above.

Rally - 1 target; DC 10; 2 Targets; DC 12; 3 Targets; DC 14

Combustion - DC 13

Lightning Javelin - DC 14

Invisibility - DC 16

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>992307
>Lightning Javelin - DC 14
Well this is shocking
I didn't expect to encounter such a creature

Rolled 14 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

Rolling because I was asked too

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>992307

JAVELIN

Rolled 15, 7, 20, 18 = 60 (4d20)

>>992421
>>992321
You strike before the tiger can pounce, drawing a javelin of lightning from the air, hurling it towards the plagued creature. It strikes hard, knocking the tiger onto its side. A pitiful yelp of pain sounds from the creature, though it recovers quickly and tries to pounce for you.

Nissa fires an arrow quickly, though it isn't enough to stop the creature. You're pinned, and your allies run to save you.

Rolled 17, 1, 20, 7, 15 = 60 (5d20)

Syn conjures her flames into existence, being careful about whipping at the tiger. Being a fire mage in a forest had a real high risk of bad things happening.

Izuka conjured forth his axe, though it wasn't as solid as he'd like it to be. It almost bounced off of the tiger's thick skin.

Kieran, however, shines in this environment. There's no telling how many creatures and people have died in this forest. Dark energy rises from the ground, and he gets physically larger. His body doesn't look as disproportionate, and a particularly large cloud of energy manifests into a large scythe, because necromancer stereotypes. He hooks the tiger, pulling it towards him and leaving a deep gash on the creature. You're freed, and the energy around Kieran disperses back into the aether.

Nissa takes advantage of the moment of weakness, firing a barrage of arrows into the tiger. One, two, three, four. All in key spots, the creature on the verge of death.

Despite its extensive injuries, however, it stands once more. It's on its final strands of life, but it won't go down without at least trying to fight more. Pitiful thing.

>What do? Spell DC same as above.

Rolled 8 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>992503
Cast rally on Kieran.
And Syn too.

File: Spoiler Image (37 KB, 752x375)

37 KB JPG

You fail your casting, but that is no matter. Syn burns the creature at the same time that Kieran once again conjures forth his weapon, eviscerating the tiger and absorbing its life. Meanwhile, Izuka's dumbass charges at the tiger but somehow manages to hit a tree. Nice.

You step closer to the tiger, knowing that it's dead. From the corpse, its blood leaks, but.. Bright blue. A glow attracts your eye, and you notice that the veins of your right hand are glowing again, but this time they are a solid glow rather than pulsing. As you get nearer, the glow gets stronger.

"What.. Are you?" Nissa asks, fearful of your glowing marks.

>when you meant for this to be a miniboss but almost every attack from your allies beat dc
>pic related

Due to irl stuff, going to cut this session here. Not much was done, but now you can speculate about the ~~ominous glowy blue arm~~

>>992606
It's magic.
Maybe the rift made us a more magical creature.
And maybe we drained something from the monster.

>>992606
"That, my dear, is a very good question"

Rolled 54 (1d100)

one more thing

>>992656
Curse you...


you just gave me flashbacks about unlce from jackie chan.

Previously
Touched a thing you're unsure if you should have touched, met some elves, fought a tiger, your arm is blue. Wat.

Useful links;
You'll find discussion for this quest under #fucks_quests; https://discord.gg/mUzTx6G
Character Sheet; http://pastebin.com/hcM9PfvS

Nissa looks fearful. "What are you?" She wonders aloud, shying back from your glow. "That.. Is a very good question." You say in turn, wondering just what could be happening. You recount what exactly might be happening, thinking of everything you know about what you just fought.

It was a tiger. It was mutated, thanks to the plague that ravaged humans and wildlife alike. Luckily, said plague didn't effect the humanoid population of your country particularly badly due to the distance of villages. You're curious, though, about how the elves weren't infected when the forests seem to be a hotspot for infection.

You dismiss that thought, then continue trying to remember exactly what you could be. Never have you read about something similar to this.

An unwelcome thought suggests you touch the tiger. You furrow your brow-- wouldn't that be dangerous to you? You'd likely contract whatever strain this creature had. On the other hand, you figure it's the most rational decision to not touch it and just try to blow over the situation. You have no idea what you are either, so maybe your allies will trust your word?

>Be rational
>Throw caution to the wind
>Other - write in

>>995101
>Throw caution to the wind

>Throw caution to the wind

>>995104
>>995117
While thinking that you may be rational, you ultimately decide that- fuck it, you aren't a rational person. You've been taking hands, making a name! What you've done so far goes against all reason, so you feel that you'd might as well keep it up.

You step closer to the pooling blood, kneeling next to it. The glow is comparable to a raging fire by now, almost paining you to look at it for too long. You extend your hand towards the blue liquid, and gently dip your fingertips into it. There is an immediate reaction.

The blood clings to and travels up your arm, and you know by now it's too late to turn back from whatever may happen. The liquid crawls up your arm quickly, stopping at the elbow. It's coating your forearm and hand by now, but then shifts into a shape. A jagged lightning bolt, spanning from your elbow to your fingertips, on the top half of your arm. As the blood falls from your arm, the blue color now gone, a voice rings through the clearing.

Aethertouched.

You have no idea what that means, nor does it seem like anyone else heard it. You look at your arm, and see that the lightning bolt stays, blue as the blood was. It looks to be a sort of tattoo, but serves no obvious purpose, nor does it have an obvious detriment to your health. It just.. Is.

You stand without problem, glancing around at your allies. "I have no idea what that was," Syn says cautiously, "But I'll trust you for now. You turn on us," She began, but Nissa finished, "We will cut you down. Got it?"

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>995133
whoops. as always; messing up rolls. wew

>>995142
You accept their words, knowing that you seem like quite a suspicious figure with how you absorbed.. Something from that afflicted blood.

You take the lead, with Nissa beside you. You figure it's the best place to be to keep their trust of you, and you doubt they'd let you walk behind if you tried. You try to ponder further over what just occurred, but nothing comes to mind. This is nothing you've ever learned, and currently you're living it. At least it doesn't seem to be doing anything negative to you.

You can tell you're getting close to the college. Even if you didn't have your crystal ball, you could easily feel the magic energy in the air. Syn is delighted to be near, Izuka shows no reaction as usual, and Nissa seems slightly uncomfortable. Kieran doesn't say a word, nor does he really exhibit any emotion. Now that you think about it, he didn't react much to the whole "aethertouched" thing. You write it off as odd, but don't confront him yet. You have more important matters to attend to.

You get through the treeline, your feet coming down on brick. The college has, supposedly, laid out its entire grounds with brick, in order to determine what is their land and what is not. You've still got some walking to do before you get to the main settlement around the college, but your team is glad to finally be out of the forest. Except NIssa, that is. "I'll stay back in the forest." She says simply, disappearing into the foliage. "I'll be with you if I'm required."

As you look towards the towering building, you think where to go first.

>To the outlying town to take care of yourselves.
>To the college to consult other mages about the crusaders.

>>995173
>To the college to consult other mages about the crusaders.
And this aether touched shit.

I wonder if that means we can cure the affliction

>>995178

This

Going to stop this for the time being, I'll be back hopefully within an hour

>>995240

Ok, sounds good

>>995240
K senpai.

>>995208
>>995178

You lead your party towards the large building in the center, though as you near you notice people staring at you. You look down at your arm, but your sleeve is definitely over the tattoo. As you look at your sleeve you notice how dirty it is, then look at your clothing to see you're covered in dirt, grime, and blood. Despite your urgency to get to the college, you need to take care of yourself first.

You divert your course towards the town. Once you're there, you look for an inn, and get a room. You spend the rest of the day recuperating and getting cleaned up.

--

Bright and early, you and your party are up. You begin on your way to the college once more, in a much better mood than before. Your robes are cleaned, your sleeves are down to cover your strange new tattoo, and your party is in a generally good mood.

Upon reaching the college, you are stopped at the door. "Who are you and what is your business here? We have not seen you in our town before."

>What do?

Do remember, I won't flat out deny things (within reason). If you want to try something, write it in and see if you're agreed with.

>>995442

> We come with grave news and would speak with your leader. The Crusaders are coming.

Bonus points if we can ominously throw the rosaries on the ground.

Unless this is an actual building instead of a small settlement.

>>995442
>A mage. I've fled here away from crusaders that destroyed my home. I need to speak to your leader.

>>995447

I'll go with this

>>995447
>>995451
>>995453

"I am a mage," You proclaim, and they seem more interested. "I have fled from my home, it's been destroyed by the crusaders of Ein." They seem much more worried, opening the grand doors further and ushering your party in. They seat you and hurry off, presumably to get their leader.

From down the stairs comes an elderly man, though he walks as if he is still young. His body clearly shows signs of age, but his behavior, not at all. "Welcome to Kozil! I hear you have news for me?" You begin to explain that the crusaders are raging through your country, trying to eliminate the use of magic. He is very concerned by this news. "How have you not heard of this?" You ask politely, and he shakes his head, "If you cannot tell, we are a very reclusive society. This college and the town around us can be quite paranoid about newcomers, and news does not easily reach here. However, I am glad you've come, young mage. This is very troubling indeed."

Before he returns to his quarters to meet with a council, he bows his head to you in gratitude. "Thank you for your effort to deliver this message to us, and in such a short time. Feel free to stay in our town as long as you require."

He goes to leave, as the explanations are done.

>Ask another question?

>>995491
Ask him about rifts and the Aether touched.

>>995497

This, also ask if training is available

>>995497
>>995521

He pauses, turning around curiously. "Aethertouched? Where did you hear that term?" With your prolonged silence, he pushes on anyways, "That is an ancient term, it's always been used to describe people who could 'pierce the dark' of a creature, as well as 'feed the elements' to them. No one knows what it means, but it's brought up time and time again in ancient texts describing a time when this.. "Spellplague" was prominent before. We've never seen a living example, so we are highly curious!"

You decide not to bring up the fact that you seem to be one.

He moved onto the topic of rifts. His hand began glowing as he 'drew' a rift in the air with his magic. "These rifts, as you call them, are tears between our world and the Aether. The more spiritual people of this world call them bridges to god, while we just know them as fonts of energy. They are also quite mysterious in nature, and it isn't known how they came to be. It's theorized they're simply areas where there is too much magic energy and it tore through trying to return to the Aether."

He pauses to think more, but you politely suggest that you've learned enough for the time being. You then ask if there is any training possible for you and your party. "I particularly use illusions and, well, lightning is pretty nice. Syn here uses fire, Izuka is a conjurer, and Kieran is.." You look back and remember Kieran stayed in the room. "Nevermind about the last one. I forget he isn't the most sociable person."

He refers you each to the appropriate teacher, telling you all you get one free lesson each.

Choose illusions or lightning, then roll 3d20

Rolled 11, 4, 15 = 30 (3d20)

>>995532
Lightning because it's our thing apparently

Rolled 17, 12, 5 = 34 (3d20)

>>995532

Lets go with lightning

Rolled 12, 9, 5 = 26 (3d20)

You train quite well, learning techniques to enhance your lightning magic further. All lightning spells are more potent, and have a lowered DC! In addition to your quick learning, you picked up on a spell the instructor used, allowing your barrier spell to be enhanced with lightning, shocking enemies within range.

Syn's technique is enhanced, her flames burning much hotter. She has enhanced control over them, allowing her to grapple more effectively.

Izuka's conjuration improves, allowing him to summon forth spectral wolves to fight alongside him.

The three of you meet back up at the tavern, happy with your enhanced knowledge of the arcane. You ask them what they'd like to do now, and Kieran mentions that while he was wandering around the town, he heard talk of a plaguebeast giving trouble in the forest nearby.

>Fight the beast?
>Look for a different task?
>Other - write in?

>>995600

>Fight the beast?

Might as well test out our new magic

>>995600
>Fight the beast?
More to absorb

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>995606
nice catch

You go into the inn and ask about the nearby plaguebeast, and he points you in the right direction. "It seems to stay near water, so once you've run into the river you've gone far enough. Then it's just a matter of waiting. Be careful." You thank him for the information then leave in the direction he pointed you to.

You get to the river without incident, but there's eerily no ambient noise. The birds have stopped, the wind is gone. It sounds as if nothing is moving.

You stand, listening closely for anything nearby. A distant wind can be heard, but it sounds far, far away.

Roll 1d100.

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>995634

File: Bird.jpg (141 KB, 1064x751)

141 KB JPG

Rolled 7, 7, 16, 20, 2 = 52 (5d20)

The gale of wind seems to be more than that, and you look in its direction. What looks to be a bird is speeding at you, and you scoff slightly, drawing a lightning javelin from the air due to how far it is, you have ample time to prepare it.
Due to how high you rolled vs it, you'll get a free javelin shot.

It's clear that the bird doesn't see your javelin as it gets closer, and you hurl it when it's close enough that your allies will be able to strike after it falls. You hurl the bolt, and it strikes the afflicted with a heavy crack. It falls from the sky, and your allies use this opportunity to attack.

You see dark energies gather around Kieran, and begin to wonder if maybe he's a one-trick pony. You've never seen him do anything else, but damn if it isn't effective..

Syn and Izuka do decently, but not well enough to pierce its oddly tough feathers, with Nissa popping from the forest and firing arrows into the wings of this creature. It screeches in pain.

>Spell list
Arcane Bolt - Due to your mastery of basic arcane, you can cast this spell without a roll. You may roll, however, to add effects! Be warned, a low enough roll may result in a negative effect!

Barrier - Mastery of basic arcane, read above.
Due to Sparked Knowledge, your barrier shocks nearby enemies automatically.

Illusory Clones - Mastery of basic arcane, read above.

Rally - DC (single target:two targets) 10:12

Lightning Javelin - DC 13

Combustion - DC 13

inb4 lightning javelin roll 1d20

Rolled 5, 14, 8, 20, 8 = 55 (5d20)

>>995667
DC to make a new spell?
Like flying nimbus but with lightning instead?

>>995674
Any roll can make a spell, the higher the dice the better though. So if you want to, roll d20.

Rolled 9 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>995683
I assume the plus one still counts

>>995686
Yeah.
christ i need to remember that +1 i should just tack it onto my desktop or something

Rolled 3 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>995686

Backing up this anon, sorry had to run an errand and got behind

lightning mage, go

You make the motion to create a lightning javelin, but instead a crackling sheet of electricity appears. It seems to be a sort of net, and you grin in anticipation. The bird begins to get up, and you throw it over the creature, hindering its movement and damaging it further. Lightning seems to be working very well against it.

Spell learned
Electric Net
>because i'm an original fucker

Plague Bird stunned for this turn

Syn does poorly, lashing wildly at the creature without many results. Izuka clips its wings fairly effectively while it's down, and Nissa's arrows fail to hit their mark.

Once again, however, Kieran gets the killing blow. He eviscerates the bird with his scythe, grinning sadistically. How the hell is he doing so well?

You forget about it, and look to the bird. Its blood isn't a different color, like the tiger's had. Your arm doesn't glow either. No reaction whatsoever, oddly enough. You see this as odd but shrug, taking a proof of death from the creature then returning to the college.

In the distance, you hear metal clashing with metal.

Session end, thanks for playing! Learned quite a bit this time around.

>>995806

Thanks for hosting, really enjoying it.

So glad we went with the mage and not the crusader!

>>995806
Thank you for the run.
We might be able to get more free lessons.
If the learn we're touched.

>>995822

We could always try paying for lessons, or doing some work in exchange for them. Maybe keep killing the monsters that are pestering the town.

If we tell them we are aethertouched they are going to experiment on us

>>995827
That's probably better.
We should also learn other elements.
Maybe we might get another reaction.